In a setback to BJP Kerala chief K Surendran, the High Court on Wednesday stayed the Kasargod sessions court order discharging Surendran and others in the Manjeswaram election bribery case.

A single bench of Justice K Babu stayed the sessions court order discharging Surendran and others in the case, in the appeal filed by the state government.

The state government in its appeal stated that the discharge of the accused is illegal and against the materials produced by the prosecution. There is sufficient and overwhelming evidence/material produced by the prosecution to place the accused on trial for such offences.

The sessions court ought not to have found that there was an inordinate delay in recording the statement of Surendran. The court overlooked the fact that he was questioned immediately after three days of the complaint, the government said.

The state government also said that the sessions court had gone beyond the jurisdiction available under section 227 of CRPC and proceeded to hold a mini-trial purely based on materials that are not put to proof.

The jurisdiction of the court under section 227 is to consider whether there is or is not sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused. Consideration of existence of sufficient grounds does not mean that the court can evaluate the materials produced by the police as if it is conducting the trial of the accused.

The Kasaragod Sessions Court on October 5 discharged Surendran in the Manjeswaram election bribery case. Along with him, five other BJP leaders were also cleared of the charges.

The court accepted the discharge plea of Surendran and five other accused as it found no ground to proceed against them. The order from the court came in a discharge petition filed by Surendran and five other accused in September 2023, claiming that the case was fabricated with a political motive.

The case against Surendran was that during the 2021 Assembly election, he offered Rs 2.5 lakh and a smartphone to BSP candidate Sundara to persuade him to withdraw his candidacy.

The first accused in the case was K Surendran, the BJP state president. K.Manikandan Rai and Suresh Y were the second and third accused, respectively. The fourth accused was Sunil Naik, the former state treasurer of the Yuva Morcha.

The fifth and sixth accused were K. Balakrishna Shetty, the former BJP Kasargod district president, and Lokesh Noda. Surendran was the BJP candidate in Manjeswaram and Konni during the 2021 assembly elections. He was defeated in both the constituencies.

Sundara, who is from the Scheduled Caste (SC) community, received 467 votes as an Independent candidate in the 2016 assembly election, where Surendran, representing the BJP, lost by a narrow margin of just 89 votes.

The bribery complaint against K Surendran and five others was filed by V V Ramesan, the LDF candidate from Manjeswaram in the same election

The case filed by the Badiadka police was subsequently investigated by a special team led by District Crime Branch DySP A. Satish Kumar, with the charge sheet later submitted to the court.